What I love the most beside the mushroom soup is when I ask their permission whether I can bring my cat or not and she (I think she's the owner) said yes, sure!

It's so lovely living in Langkawi where lots of cafes allowing you to bring your cat. So next time we will have our breakfast together also with Tomy :)

Bicara tentang kafe kopi di Jakarta tidak pernah ada habisnya. Banyak kafe bermunculan dari kafe kopi serius sampai kafe kopi seadanya yang gak serving kopi enak tapi cuma nyediain spot instagramable doang yang end upnya ya cuma buat tempat foto-foto aja. Lalu sekalinya ada kafe kopi enak serius betulan tapi pilihan breakfastnya gak banyak dan rasanya biasa aja, yang kebanyakan cuma serving pastries and bakries.

Tinggal 4 tahun di Singapore yang surganya tempat brunch enak membuat saya rindu buat having nice decent breakfast kayak gitu. Kopi serius yang saya maksud disini refer to specialty / artisan coffee, dengan cita rasa khas biji kopi pilihan apalagi buat saya penggemar espresso based coffee. Dan breakfast decent itu refer to western breakfast yang tentunya bukan lontong sayur dan nasi uduk, yang walau sama-sama ngenyangin tapi lebih sehat plus di tempat yang ambiancenya santai and comforting bukan yang pinggir jalan panas-panasan dan debuan. Sesekali boleh lah punya mood santai kayak gitu. Bagi saya breakfast (brunch) adalah moment favorit saya, dimana awal dari mood yang positif dengan suasana yang peaceful dan menghabiskan waktu bersama suami, keluarga hingga teman atau kolega. Momen dimana saya bisa betul-betul punya quality time bersama mereka, tidak jarang momen ini juga bisa buat meeting atau tempat rileks sejenak after my morning yoga class!

2 cups cappuccino, a club breakfast, and a slice of oreo cake to my sweet tooth Mom

And yeay finally, I can sitting with my Mom at 8.30 in the morning, I was the their first customer on that day, kafenya masih sepi dan happy banget feel the vibe of the warm sunshine through their ceiling. And we had a great conversation as I expected over the velvety coffee (they use Nagadi Coffee Indonesia) and nice breakfast which they served with the cute copper cutleries. 

Banyak yang sudah tidak asing lagi dengan coffee shop yang jadi tempat favorit nongkrong di bilangan Jakarta Utara, tepatnya di daerah Pantai Indah Kapuk alias Toby's Estate Coffee. Namun kali ini saya gak mau review Toby's Estate Indonesia, but yes here we go a glance of Toby's Estate Singapore. 

Teman saya Dana sedang berkunjung ke Singapore dan akhirnya kita memutuskan untuk nongkrong di tempat yang nyaman biar bisa cerita and ngobrol panjang lebar. And because I am more to coffee over dessert person, as always saya selalu menjadikan coffee shop sebagai tempat berjumpa. Singkat cerita, hujan deras sore itu serta cuaca yang gloomy banget jadi background saya menyeruput secangkir macchiato dan hot chocolate tentunya buat Dana karena dia enggak suka kopi. Serta sepiring vanilla waffle berries yang kami pilih sebagai dessert setelah makan laksa aunty (laksa di Queesnstown fenomenal ini akan saya tulis di post selanjutnya ya, maklum gak pernah konsen foto kalo tiap makan disitu, haha).

Kafe kopi ini sepi banget saat saya dan Dana mengunjunginya. Padahal di jam-jam kopi sore kayak gini biasanya selalu padat pengunjung. Nampaknya mungkin karena hujan deras orang-orang jadi malas keluar rumah. Padahal sesungguhnya ngopi disini lumayan asik ambiancenya. Meja komunal besar yang bisa menampung rombongan yang dateng rame-rame dengan sebuah terarium glass bowl yang mereka gunakan sebagai table centrepiece instead of flower, nice!

Ruangan high ceiling dengan industrial concept di dominasi dengan warna dan konsep yang masculine kental mewarnai nuansa coffee shop ini. And also do not forget about their coffee bean that they sell! They display their finest coffee selections on the shelves. As we all know, Toby's Estate serves the great quality of coffee, no doubt!

Phone: +65 6636 7629
(there's no nearest MRT station, take bus! nearest bus stop is at Four Points Hotel)

Opening hoursSunday – Thursday  7.30am-6pm
Friday – Saturday  7.30am-7pm

This city succeed made me eating DURIAN gracefully without any complaint about the strong smell or you-called-want-to-puke-expression in my face! After 27 years living in this world and never ever ever know enjoying the durian taste, in this city, Medan I learnt it. And it's such an OH moment for starting my 2017 year.

Medan, the capital city of North Sumatera, Indonesia has a ton of great food list of places, especially if you are an Indonesian food lover and dare to explore local food taste as a part of your travel experience. Below I summarize just a few of them. Because there are still plenty places that never enough to fulfil my (especially my hubby) desire of the lovely taste of local Indonesian cuisine in Medan.

Thanks God, born as Indonesian, I'm not finding difficulties to enjoy every food at my country. The more I travel abroad, the more I praise and proud for the richness of Indonesian culinary compared to other countries. Sweet, bitter, sour, spicy, salty, all we have here in Indonesia. And once again thanks God you make me as an omnivore (literally) because I love e-ve-ry food. I never get trouble for the spicy things or whatsoever. I just love food, any food. I am not vegetarian. I am not doing clean eating. So I can enjoy the food for whatever it looks and whatever it likes.

So!

These are the culinary highlights of my Medan holiday:

1. Mie Aceh Titi Bobrok
Jalan Setia Budi No. 17 D, Sei Sikambing B, Medan Sunggal
I ordered mie aceh kepiting (crab) that only cost me below IDR 20.000. The crab is not that good quality, my husband said it was not fresh. But hey! What do you expect from 2 bucks of food? For me it was still delicious.
Spicy but fresh that simply enough to be the reason why I am being a fan of mie aceh. Aceh is not an area in Medan. It is another province in Indonesia, still in Sumatera, but I've found an Acehnese wrote a blog that said "I eat mie aceh in every corner in Aceh, but the best for me I found in Medan instead."

mie aceh kering

Noodle served with 2 ways, your choice; basah (wet, not soup-so not really dried-but also not in soup form) and kering (fried, dry). Served by seafood or meat with emping (belinjo crackers), sliced onion and cucumber.
And I finished more than 5 sticks of sate kerang (scallop satay) by my own. In Medan, the side dish, scallop satay is easy to be found anywhere. Oh and this warung, the sate kerang is the best as well!

finally I finish this full plate by my own

2. Ucok Durian

Jalan KH. Wahid Hasyim No. 30-32, Babura, Medan Baru

This place is totally HEAVEN for durian lovers, you can get your durian anytime, they open 24 hours. With only IDR 40.000 per durian (price depends on seasons, better ask the price first) we can get the best quality durian and can change it with another if we are not satisfied with the taste for free.

size of boxes and the pricing

They also can pack it smells-free so you can conveniently carry it around and bring back to your house (err, but I don't think it will last longer without the ice for the long flight, haha). I bought and send a box of durian for my parents in Jakarta. In collaboration with Pos Indonesia, they can send your durian package to any cities in Indonesia within 24 hours. Very express and time efficient! Ah they also have pancake durian which in fact the durian wrapped by a thin layer of crepe. So the durian is seed-free and looks neater to be enjoyed. Because having them chilled is taste better! The frozen pancake durian even can last for months.

my first time seeing husband do literally what in Julia Perez sing in her song 'belah duren'!

and his happy face after

a lot of press reviews, achievement and certificate as this shop decor

3. RM Sinar Pagi

Jl. Sei Deli No.2, Silalas

Woah, even while writing and sort the picture already make me hungry and wanna go back there! As a soto-lover, I'm madly in love with their soto. Soto is traditional Indonesian soup. In this small restaurant (don't imagine luxurious and proper restaurant, no air conditioner here, this is warung), you can choose Soto Medan between beef, chicken, or mixed with innards one. The one ingredients that make soto medan different with other soto is they put cummin (jinten) in it. The richness of coconut milk taste mixed with herbs and spices really lift the fragrance up with the brownish yellow of the broth color.
Saya benci makan jeroan, but here kenapa enak sekali dan saya suka. Especially the fried beef lung, omg parunya enak banget. IDR 25.000 per portion at the small bowl with rice. This place is very good for breakfast and no wonder by 3 PM they closed already. There is no slow service here, by the time we entered the warung, (without counter and we were still standing) the staff approached us and asked what we were going to order deftly! By the time we reached our seat, no need to wait for minutes, the food just came quickly. Woah we were impressed! No wonder our former Indonesian president had visited this warung makan.

4. RM Sipirok

Jalan Sunggal No. 14, Sei Sikambing B, Medan Sunggal

A lot of rumah makan available in Medan and this one is the good one. Sop sumsum-nya juara! Never read or heard the review from internet till our cousin who ever lived at Medan told us to stopping by at this warung. And amazingly we love it. They specialise in bone marrow soup. Open only from 10.30-15.00 daily. Unlucky me, I arrive close to their closing time and not so many menu left. By the time we arrived, all of the menu  they had directly serve without you order. Reminds me of how Padang restaurant served their food. No sop sumsum left, so we only get the sop daging (meat soup).
Plus the side dishes that I wasn't really familiar about consist of gulai daun singkong, tapi daun singkongnya entah kenapa ditumbuk, dihancurin gitu, sambal teri, dan daging bakar sambal bawangnya really gave unique taste on it. Don't judge a book by its cover, so don't judge food by its so-so presentation. Nothing special on your plate, only the bone marrow or meat clear soup di piring ala kadarnya. They said the soup served is here is traditionally from Sipirok area, daerah sejuk di kawasan Sumatera Utara. With a price range IDR 25.000 - 50.000, warung makan ini will enrich your senses of the outstanding taste of local food. Suck it up dude! (you know what I mean right? the bone marrow, hey...)

6. Lontong Kak Lin
Jalan T. Cik Ditiro, Madras Hulu, Medan Polonia (in front of SMA 1 Medan)


Sebagai pencinta makanann berkuah. Lontong sayur adalah salah satu pilihan saya untuk sarapan pagi. Lontong sayur is rice cake with gravy. Every region in Indonesia has their own lontong sayur form. What made lontong medan different is because they are putting tauco (fermented soy beans paste), the taste is unique. They also served lontong pecel (peanut sauce gravy) with a lot of condiments selections.
The nasi gurih, similar with nasi uduk (coconut milk steamed rice) was also good for breakfast. Ssstt, but my driver that drop us to this place said  "I prefer go to her ex-husband warung, taste better." Ups did I just hear gossip or what? Haha. So Kak Lin divorced and the ex husband decided to open the same warung as well (I believe it's from one recipe). However different hands makes the taste of the food different, isn't it? Then I replied "Who's is the ex husband name?" He answered, "Bang Iwan! next time you go eat at Lontong Bang Iwan, they are still nearby, just separated by a few shops but still in one same row!" Aha!


7. Manisan Jambu


It is preserved guava. Taste sour and make you instantly awake when you are sleepy. You can find this easily anywhere in Medan. Go to Jalan Mojopahit, there are plenty of souvenir shop there, including this manisan jambu. This is very nice for sour fruit lover!


8. Medan Napoleon
Jalan Wahid Hasyim No. 46/35, Sei Babura, Medan Baru
The puff pastry wrapped by sponge cake now is the hype here. With plenty selections of flavours, chocolate, cheese, matcha, durian, red velvet, this sponge cake seems will bit by bit will be the main rival of another popular sponge cake in medan, Bolu Meranti.
The cheese that I bought is taste so good served by Sumatra coffee. Wohoo. My all time favorite is Bolu Meranti, but after I tried Medan Napoleon now I should add it at my favorite list!
p.s: just stroll around Jalan Mojopahit, all the special Medan cake are worth to try. Bika Ambon Zulaika, Bolu Meranti, pancake durian -the best one they said is the one located at Durian House, teri bajak (dried anchovies), tauco, Sumatra coffee, etc.


9. Repvblik Kopi
This is a must coffee shop when you visit Medan. Forget about the not-so-nice latte presentation. But the taste of the coffee is the best. Or just me exaggerate about my first time having Sumatra coffeee? Tell me lame, but yeah. Sebagai pencinta kopi amatir, I fall in love with their coffee. They have good selection of the beans. All the beans are originally planted from Sumatera area. They roast the beans by themselves.  I can't stand for their kopi jantan too acidic for me. But the Sidikalang coffee is the must try. I will post separately about my review in this coffee shop.  I bought a pack and ask them to grind for me so me and my husband can enjoy it at home with my Bialetti Moka Express.


And there are still so many untried eateries I haven't tried. Seafood at Belawan, Pajak (Pasar-Market) Beruang, Tip Top, mie kari bebek, Misop Starband (they said this is the good one if want to try the Misop). Promise I will go back someday!
By the way, aren't you hungry reading this post?

Thanks for reading!
Horas!!!